The next morning, Dylan woke up with all of the cells in his body bursting to life. He had tried to do the gentlemanly thing and just sleep on the floor, but Katelyn had rolled her eyes and said, “It’s fine, I trust you not to try anything.”

He hadn’t tried anything but over the night they had both shifted to the center of the bed. So, when he woke up, she was pressed into his chest. She smelled like citrus and cinnamon. She was wearing an oversized grey t-shirt with the words Stay Cool, Little Red printed across the chest and a pair of black leggings. The night before, she had explained that the quote on her shirt was from a book called Fangirl that she really liked but that he’d never read. She had been sitting cross legged on her bed, twisting her hair into a knot on the top of her head, exposing just a bit of skin at the top of her hips in the process. She’d explained it like, “It’s just kind of like...if you’re small and nervous and, I don’t know, innocent or naive or whatever, the world is kind of terrifying. So. Y’know. You just gotta stay cool.”

Dylan thought of that moment after he woke up. Her shirt was hitched back above her hip, and at some point throughout the night he’d wrapped his arm around her, so he woke up to his palm pressed against her skin. He tried telling himself to stay cool but it was ineffective. Probably, he reasoned, it was ineffective because he was not terrified. He was just exhilarated. She stirred in her sleep, shifting closer to him in the process. She had her cheek pressed against his chest and her lips parted just slightly. He felt a blush spread across his cheeks. It wasn’t clear how he could go about disentangling himself from her without waking her up, but he clearly needed to leave.

Katelyn made a soft little sound like a whine or a sigh and, sleepily, she asked, “What time is it?”

“I don’t know,” Dylan whispered. He felt his face warming. Now that Katelyn was awake, it seemed like she should be trying to move out of his hands, but maybe she wasn’t awake enough for that. “My phone is on the other side of the room.”

“Ugh,” she groaned. “Oh well. It doesn’t matter then. Go back to sleep.”

When she finally did move, it was not to disentangle herself from him. Instead, she resituated herself so that her head was on his sternum and her chest was pressed against his ribcage. Her arms were locked around his sides and her face was tilted towards her shoulder. Dylan tried to stay very still so as not to disturb her. His attempt was in vain, though, because after a moment, Katelyn pushed herself up onto her elbows and frowned at him.

“Dylan,” she said, very sternly, “I’m going to need you to chill out. Otherwise I’m not going to be able to sleep. It’s like you’ve got a rave going on in your chest.”

“Sorry,” Dylan laughed. “But, I, uh…actually I need to get up. I’ve gotta...pee.”

“Ugh, fine,” she complained. “Are you, like, up-up? Like, are you getting up? Or are you going to come back? Because, if you’re not coming back, will you kindly pass me that pillow?”

“Oh, sure,” he said, passing her the pillow he’d been using. After he crawled out of the bed, she crushed the pillow beneath herself, replacing him easily. She fell back asleep within moments. He stood and watched her, just for a second, before leaving her room and looking for the bathroom.

Eventually, he made his way to the living room. There, he used an app on his phone to check out the book that Katelyn had mentioned the night before. He fell into it pretty quickly. He was a fast reader, too, so he was able to make it halfway through the book before anyone interrupted him.

Elizabeth slipped into the room, carrying her daughter. She looked at Dylan, at her daughter, and then at Dylan again. Finally, she sighed and said, “I know you aren’t Jason. So, who are you?”

“I’m...what?” Dylan stammered.

“Okay, here’s the thing,” Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes. “Katelyn actually has told me a few things about the guy she’s dating, or was dating, and Connor texted me a few pictures after he visited her in the fall. So. Like I said. I know that you aren’t Jason. I would have known by the description alone. She said Jason was a workaholic who wasn’t all that into her. You didn’t check your phone yesterday, but you kept checking her out.”

Dylan’s face burned with embarrassment. He hated how easily he blushed.

Elizabeth continued, “She also said that he had broad shoulders and a kind of bland face. You’re narrow. And your face? Your face is all cheekbones and angles and deep, beautiful eyes. Trust me, if she’d called me and was describing you she would have used the word exquisite at least once.”

Elizabeth held up a hand and clarified, “This isn’t me hitting on you. I’m married so that should be obvious but, just in case, I thought I should state it.”

“Okay,” Dylan said. He thought for a moment and then let out a breath. “Okay. So. I’m Dylan. We work together.”

“All right. Dylan. So. You’re not a creep are you?” Elizabeth asked. In her arms, her daughter started to squirm.

“No,” he said. “I’m not a creep.”

“Like, you’re a decent guy?”

“Uh, yeah, I try to be, at least. I think I am.”

“Good. So. Will you watch my kid then?” Elizabeth asked. “I’d like, you know, some time alone with my husband.”

“Okay,” Dylan shrugged. Elizabeth nodded and sat Sapphire down next to him. She gave her daughter a few quick instructions like be good and scream if you need me and bite him if he tries to take you outside of this house. Then she headed back upstairs.

For about fifteen minutes, Dylan hung out with Sapphire. She would waddle to the bookshelf, retrieve a picture book, and bring it to him to read. He would read about half of it to her before she would stand up, waddle back to the bookshelf, and pick out a different picture book. In the midst of reading Corduroy’s Christmas, Katelyn came downstairs. Sapphire was pretty captivated by the book thanks to the flaps for her to lift, so she didn’t notice Katelyn’s arrival until Katelyn dropped down next to them and greeted, “G’morning.”

Katelyn was rubbing sleep out of her eyes, but she had to have been up for awhile because she’d traded in her t-shirt for a long, cream colored sweater and she had pulled her curls into a ponytail.

“KAY’LN!” Sapphire shouted excitedly.

“Hey little fire babe,” Katelyn said, scooping Sapphire into her arms. At first, Sapphire busied herself by yanking at the collar of Katelyn’s sweater. When she tired of that, she went to retrieve another book.

“I think my family likes you,” Katelyn said. She was sitting right next to him. Her arm was touching his. He felt, at once, like she was too close and too far away. Maybe too close for who they really were, and too far from who his imagination made them out to be. He readjusted his own arm so that it was behind her, but not touching her, and she shifted closer to him.

His ears had probably gone pink. “Uh. I think you mean your family likes Jason.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t think they would have liked him very much.”

“Yeah? Well. Your sister knows that I’m not really Jason. So, if she likes me, she must actually like me,” he told her.

Sighing, she tilted her head back and said, “Oh my gosh, is that why she has been giving me so much crap? How did she find out?”

“I guess you maybe told her more about Jason than you remembered,” Dylan shrugged. “Plus Connor sent her a picture.”

“Ah, that figures. Connor won’t let us follow him on Instagram, so our sibling agreement says he has to send us photos of his life at least twice a week. Usually he’s a total jerk about it, though, and just sends us photos of, like, his hand holding coffee or whatever.”

She hummed in thought for a moment and then added, “This is good, though. That she was just tormenting me yesterday. I thought that she might just be really bad at meeting her siblings’ significant others. I was about to text Connor to warn him.”

“She hasn’t met any of your significant others before?” Dylan asked. It was surprising because they had seemed like a pretty close family.

“Nah,” Katelyn shrugged. “Liz might get left out a bit. I mean, I haven’t even met any of Connor’s boyfriends before. Well. Except for this one in high school and I didn’t ever meet him as Connor’s boyfriend. I just knew him and, after they broke up, Connor told me they’d been dating. Anyway. Connor and I tell each other a lot, but... I don’t know. I guess Liz gets left out a lot. That’s just what she gets for being so much older than us.”

“Gee, thanks, sis,” said a bitter voice from above them. They shifted to see Elizabeth, dressed in green, next to Malik, dressed in red, walking down the stairs. Dylan felt his eyebrows pitch high on his forehead. This whole family went hard for Christmas. There was Christmas music playing on a loop since they’d arrived the day before. The whole house was decorated and every remaining surface had glass jars full of cookies or bowls full of candies. Martha had worn an apron spotted with candy canes on top of a reindeer sweater. Katelyn had slept in fuzzy socks that looked like Christmas trees. While they were watching It’s a Wonderful Life, Jon had given Dylan an actual santa hat.

“Sorry, Liz. I know it’s not your fault you were born so long before me,” Katelyn said dismissively. Sapphire, who was wearing a red dress and candy cane striped tights, waddled over to her parents and was hoisted into the air by her father.

Ignoring what seemed to be the ever present Eubanks Sister Banter, Malik said, “Do you guys want to go with us to the Midland? There’s going to be a pancake breakfast with Santa.”

He quirked an eyebrow at his daughter and she let out a squeal of delight. In that moment, more than anything, Dylan missed his own father.

“What about the ‘rents?” Katelyn asked.

Elizabeth shrugged, “Mom suggested it. We’ll leave a note. C’mon. Sister bonding time.”

“Fine,” Katelyn laughed. She stood and helped Dylan up. He draped his arm back over her, and it didn’t even occur to him that it was an unnecessary act because everyone they were with knew he wasn’t really Katelyn’s boyfriend until they were at the car.